For six seasons, Matt Berry has played centuries-old vampire Laszlo in the FX original series What We Do In The Shadows. The sixth and final season will hit the small screens next month, but the fifth season of the series is going for the big awards this year at the Emmys. Besides being nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, the series has also earned Berry his much-deserved Best Actor nomination.
While the British actor is honored to receive the Emmy nod for his role, he shared that it was the last thing he focused on for the role. According to Berry, making his co-stars laugh on the set was his primary goal which he hoped would then make some of the audiences of the show laugh. The award nomination would be a sweet goodbye gift for Berry.
Matt Berry Says The Cast Was Focused On Making Each Other Laugh In What We Do In The Shadows
Born out of the geniuses of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, What We Do In The Shadows has since expanded to the six-season American show on FX. Clement serves as the showrunner, while Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, Mark Proksch, and Kristen Schaal play the main characters in the series.
The mockumentary-style vampire comedy has a pretty silly premise of age-old vampires living as roommates in a Staten Island residence. They have deviated from their purpose of ruling the new world and the series focuses on their day-to-day lives. It was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2020 and 2022 for its second and third seasons.
In 2024, the series once again bagged the Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series for its fifth season, but this time the cast too had reasons to celebrate. Matt Berry has been nominated for the Best Actor Emmy, something he had never anticipated when doing the role.
Berry shared that all they tried to do in the series was to make themselves laugh. The cast then hoped that these silly jokes would also make some of the audiences of the show. So far, the formula has been working well for the series. Berry shared that he only had this one focus in his mind and all the awards and adulation came second. He told The Wrap:
We don’t expect it when we do the show. The only thing that we try and do is stuff that makes us laugh and that we find funny. Hopefully, that comes across, and at least someone else will find it funny. When you do comedy, that’s what you have to have in sight as opposed to adulation or awards.
Berry further shared that his primary intention was to please himself with the comedy rather than to please the audience. The actor’s role has a background in British nobility which often plays into the comedy with his certain pronunciations and shocking lines. Berry says that it has to come from a “non-cynical” place for the comedy to work out.
Matt Berry Is More Excited About Another Award Nomination For The Series
Matt Berry couldn’t contain his excitement for What We Do In The Shadow‘s Emmy nomination in a very special category. The show has also received the nod for Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program. Berry shared that the mansion set of the series was a memorable part of the series. Berry described it as one of the identities of his show.
He shared it was difficult to part ways with the set after filming for the final season wrapped earlier this year. Berry shared that it was like leaving a home, which is true considering Berry spent most of the last few years in this home as much as his real home in the U.K. He shared with The Wrap:
That, for me, is such a big deal, richly deserved, because it’s such a big part of our show. It’s kind of the identity of the show. When we finished, it was like leaving a home that you’ve been in for a long time, and you feel comfortable. It makes a difference — how you stand, how you act, the way that you communicate with each other. I don’t mind saying that I will miss it because I’ve got very happy memories of it.
Competing with Berry in the category are Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building), Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building), Jeremy Allen White (The Bear), and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs).
What We Do In The Shadows is now available for streaming on Hulu.
